Guest blog: Sing Sing Sing

GUEST BLOG: As we continue our look at hobbies that become passions: singing in the shower is fine enough…for some.

For one Torontonian, raising his voice with others is an opportunity to expand his musical horizons. These videos below are a surefire happy buzz, and for participants, well, I’m thinking it’s a whole new high. Here’s my friend Bob to tell you more.

By Bob Hillhouse

I sing with a interesting social project called Choir!Choir!Choir! The group is described as a band, but a very elastic band. The only constant is the two leaders, Nobu Adilman and Daveed Goldman.

Over the past five years, the group has expanded to perform at large festivals and recording on records and commercials. The core is weekly singalongs, in three-part harmony, at Clinton’s Tavern on Bloor Street in Toronto. We film a video of the practice and these videos get thousands of hits from around the world. We also have Epic night where we sing with established artists. Bruce Cockburn, Rufus Wainwright, Sarah Harmer and Sloan are some of the people that we have collaborated with.

The selection of songs is quite open. One thing that we have learned that traditional campfire songs are okay, but the best songs tend to be ’80’s new wave electronic covers and ’90’s music. But the thing that interests me is being introduced to new music and artists that I wouldn’t encounter. Grimes, Lana Delray, USS and even Bieber are excellent new artists that we have covered.

When I hear my fellow baby boomers lament the end of good music, I feel they are missing a whole world of new sounds from around the world.